What is the connection between living history and historic preservation?

Historic homes are not for everyone. But you aren’t everyone. If you want to stand apart from the crowd, a house with an interesting and noteworthy past may be right for you. And if you knew you could save money, have the sort of comfort a new home can’t provide, we can help you have exactly what you are looking for. What’s even better is that it can cost you less to purchase than a brand new home. We can make it easy for you to have an exceptional home—one you will be proud to call your own.

The decision to restore an historic home is a gift to you and your family. It’s also a gift to your community. It will say a lot about you and what you value most.

You'll demonstrate the connection between living history and historic preservation.

Once your house is restored, you will not only begin living in a home that you will enjoy for years as a family but one that also helps to preserve the heritage of your city, state, and country.

Historic buildings preserve a tangible link to a past that enriches present day lives. You won’t be living in the past but bringing history alive by making it live in the present.

Private and institutional clients trust ZMK because we sustain and maintain historic properties that generations of Californians will enjoy and appreciate. We have years of experience in the repair and preservation of aging buildings. Although historic properties need particular care and attention, these structures, in the right hands, become more sustainable than most contemporary structures. Using sophisticated testing and materials analysis techniques, our team of trained professionals applies the science of preservation to develop appropriate and innovative solutions to restore value to remarkable properties that might otherwise be lost to us all.

A property worth restoring not only not only must meet specific criteria for historic designation but be renovated to meet contemporary standards. ZMK brings to each project the knowledge and skill required to meet both requirements. Our task is to create a living space that is aesthetically pleasing and livable at the same time—a place you can truly call home and that others will be grateful to have in their neighborhood or city.

Successfully completing this kind of ambitious undertaking requires the vision of a master craftsman directing a talented and experienced team. Michel Khozam, founder and CEO of ZMK Construction, is a true master of his rare craft—a man who brings history to life. The living spaces he creates are not museums where everything is frozen in time. These restored structures become homes and buildings that real people live and work in every day.

Historic Preservation Experts

Because they understand that living history and historic preservation are bound together, ZMK’s team of highly experienced craftsmen will consult and guide you through every step required to preserve and maintain your property. We provide outstanding service, great results, and stand behind the work we do.

Our partner, Legacy 101—a group of highly regarded historians—will provide you with a portfolio containing your building’s history and all the necessary documentation to support you in obtaining historic designation. As an added benefit, owners of buildings that qualify for designation can receive between 20% and 70% reduction on their property taxes once a structure has been designated a historic site.

We have the experience and know-how that is hard for anyone in Southern California to match. We have been building and renovating homes for generations. And the homes we restore are more beautiful and comfortable than any newly constructed executive mansion. You can have an exclusive home instead of just a costly one.

Michel and his team have been building, renovating, and restoring homes in the greater San Diego area since 2004. Both his father and grandfather before him were also builders; Michel began remodeling houses as a young man. He practices his craft not to add ordinary houses to a market flooded with structures that are modern, functional and soulless but to create intimate living spaces—homes, offices, churches—that enter people’s hearts. Human spaces, where people can gather without dulling their spirits.

Working within preservation guidelines and standards, ZMK professionals balance the need to provide durable solutions with the ability to sensitively maintain a structure’s historic value. From planning and investigation through design implementation, no firm is better qualified to provide the technical and aesthetic skills that meet the requirements of architecturally significant and historic structures.

It takes a certain kind of person to want to be part of living history. ZMK knows that people who want restore an historic home or building are wired differently than those who buy new. ZMK is attentive to the impact of a living space on a client’s life. Under Michel’s direction, the ZMK team combines tradition with innovation seamlessly to create living history, places that are both old and new at the same time

Working with ZMK means you will be pleased with the results. We always stand fully behind our work and are never happy until you are satisfied with what we’ve done. We address your concerns while the work is being done and it’s finished when you get what you expected and what you as the client and we as the contractor agree to before we started your project.